Flexible ruler.



Nt. hacia.

NITED STATES Patented october 2o, ieosl -`PATENT QFFICE.

EUsTAoE ALEXANDRrA ANDREW DUNN, or BALLAnAfr,i vicroRA,

AUSTRALIA. v

FLEXIBLE RULER.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 742,013, dated October20, 1903. l.tlpplioation iiled April 20. 1903. Serial No. 153,549. KNOmodel.)

To CLZZ whom,` t may concern:

Be it known that I, EUs'rAon ALEXANDRIA ANDREW DUNN, a subject of theKing of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at 18A MacArthur street,Ballarat, in the State of Victoria, Australia,have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Flexible Rulers; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide improvements in fieXiblerulers, to enable them to be produced extremely cheaply, yet possessingthe advantages of lightness and strength, and of facilitating accurateand rapid positioning of the ruled lines. The latter advantage is due tothe upper and lower antislipping means provided in the form of nipples,wings, flutings, corrugations,

or ribs which, moreover, serve to raise the ruler edges to a convenientheight;V to avoid blotting When ruling.

The improved ruler is made of a flexible sheet-metal or equivalent blankadapted to receive any desired advertisements andwhich is when ready foruse springy, so as to automatically resume its normal straightness whennot heldA curved. The simplest antislipping means I employ is alongitudinal double row of nipples formed by pressing the ruler-blankbetween dies, each row being parallel to and near an edge of the ruler,so that the upper face of the ruler will exhibit two series of pits ordepressions and the lower face two series of projections, which I callin some cases nipples,and which may be circular, oval, or ofotherconvenient internal and external shape and terminate in pinholes orlarger openings or be imperforate. The projections may, however, becaused by transverse corrugations or lutings (maintaining, however, thestraightness of the ruler edges) or byV cutting the blank, and bendingdown the parts cut so as to produce wings or ribs projecting on theunder side, leaving on the upper side openings or slits in the iiexibleblank or body.

This ruler may be placed upon the pages of an ordinary open ledger orthe like having a curved surface or surfaces and by the pressure of theiingers of the left hand is easily held so that it cannot slip, which isnot the case with the ordinary fieXible-rulers known to me which havenot a proper provision for this purpose either on their upper or lowersurfaces, while I provide both. The finger-pressure has with myinvention the eiect of causing the nipples, lutings, wings, or ribstoptirmly grip thepaper or like surface, even indenting the same veryslightly, if desired, at predetermined points where the direct pressureis applied, while the fingers are prevented from slipping by reason oftheir being pressed into the pits, recesses,or openings on the upperface of the ruler. The apertures enable the ruler to be better adjustedin position and enable the paper beneath to be marked with lines or dotstherethrough at predetermined distances from one another. Theseapertures have where desired their edges marked with a variety ofscales, whereby the distances between the lines drawn may be regulatedand varied extensively. Two downwardly-bent parts may also be inclinedtoward one another, so as to meet and form a single strong rib or wing.

Referring now to the drawings herewith, which show part of a fiexibleruler constructed in accordance with this invention, Figure 1 is a planView, Fig. 2 an end elevation, and Fig. 3 an end elevation showing theruler tilted, one edge touching the paper or sur face to be ruled andthe other being high above said surface. This view shows projections onboth sides of the ruler. and 5 represent the ruler of Fig. l (inlongitudinal vertical sections yon the lines 13 and 14, respectively) asapplied to a curved sur- `face lto b e ruled. The nipples on line 13 areshown imperforate and those on line 14 perforated. Figs. 6 and 10 areplan views show `ing modifications of Fig. 1, and Figs. 7 and S are endelevations of Fig. 6. Fig. 9 represents the ruler in Fig. 6 inlongitudinal vertical section on line 15. Fig..1l is an end elevation ofFig. 10, and Fig. 12 shows the ruler in Fig. 10 in longitudinal verticalsec tion on line 16.

In several of the figures more than one modification is shown to morefully illustrate the invention; but in practice the use of one Figs. 4

IOO

2 'T43 ST3 or of several types of projection on one ruler n would dependupon the manufacturer.

vention.

Advertisements or calendars are not shown in the drawings, as suchadditions, though contemplated in practice, are not essential fea`tures.

Referring to the lettering on the drawings, the ruler is made from ablank a, having ruling edges, as and y. c on the upper face indicatesopenings or pits as interiors of the nipples b (imperforate) c,(perforated,) which project from the lower face, keeping` the ruler edgeat a convenient height above the paper to be ruled. In Figs. 6 to l2these openings or pits (some of which are of elongated form) are shownas produced by cutting and bending the metal or by (see left-hand sideof Fig. 10) corrugating or flutiug it, and two of these elongatedopenings, which extend at right angles to the edges :r y, are marked a2,the` parts bent down from their areas being brought obliquely togetherto form a transverse rib f. rl'he bent down projection marked d isparallel to the edges .fr y, while d is transverse thereto. Twoprojections d or d may be brought together, as in the case of f, forgreater strength. e shows the projection when there are transversefiutings or corrugations, this and other details varying as desired fromthe. drawings in proportions, positions, and general fiuish,7 butmaintaining features essential to the iu As it is customary to applyscales to the edges of rulers, these, though they may be employed, formno part ofy the invention. In Fig. l0, however, a series of longitudinallines g (made in practice to any desired scalings) is shown crossing theopenings Ca2. These are to facilitate ruling lines which could not be soreadily positioned or arrived at if the ruler were not provided with thescale-marked openings, any desired numbering or the like opposite thelines g being added in practice. Beveled or rounded edges or surfacesandother such details as will not impair the flexibility are provided atwill.

When the ruler edges must be elevated from the paper, whichever side isuppermost suitable projections will be made on both sides of theflexible body a. Fig. 3 shows such projections, the rows projecting onthe upper side being drawn slightly nearer the edge than those on thelower. It is to be understood that the nipples may have their pitspartly filled 0r filled with rubber or other suitable material if a headis left which will be antislipping to lingers pressed thereon.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

l. A flexible ruler composed of asingle flat piece of flexible materialprovided with a series of projections on its under side formed byforcing downward a part of the body portion of the ruler, substantiallyas described.

2. A fiexible ruler composed of a single flat piece of flexible materialprovided with a plurality of holes on its upper side and with a seriesof projections on its underside, formed by forcing a part of the bodyportion of the ruler downward, substantially as described. t A flexibleruler composed of a single flat plate of flexible material provided witha series of transversely-arranged depressions on its upper side and witha series of transversely-arranged projections on its lower side, saiddepressions and projections being formed by forcing downward portions ofthe body part cf the ruler, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EUS'IACE ALEXANDRIA ANDREW DUNN.

Witnesses:

AND. SMITH, II. G. MoRRow.

